The proposed research program will examine neurochemical correlates of optic nerve regeneration in the goldfish. In preliminary studies, we have shown that the incorporation of radioactive precursors into certain protein species increases greatly during the course of the regenerative process. Our major objective will be to examine this protein synthesis pattern in detail, correlating it with the various stages of degeneration of severed processes outgrowth of new axons, synaptogenesis, reappearance of physiological responses, and restoration of visuomotor behaviors. Techniques will include double-labeling, SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, neurophysiology, and autoradiography. Previous work in this laboratory has shown that when goldfish master a vestibulomotor adaptation task, large labeling changes appear in protein species in the same molecular weight range as in the regeneration studies. To explore the possibility that the identified proteins may function in a way that is general to brain plasticity, we will explore the effects upon regeneration of injecting antisera specific to the proteins metabolically altered by conditioning. This research will help shed light on mechanisms of growth and plasticity in the CNS. As such, it could have relevance for understanding brain development and recovery from CNS damage in man, and perhaps even brain changes with aging and mental retardation.